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Jill-Michele Melean
Jill-Michele Meleán (born June 29, 1979) is an American comic actress. Meleán is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv. Biography Jill-Michele Meleán is an Irish/Bolivian that was born and raised in Miami, Florida (making her Cuban by association). Jill-Michele has broken every Latina tradition. She's not married, does not have kids and is Buddhist. She left her big family in Miami and moved to Los Angeles in 2000 without knowing anybody in the new city. She stood in line with homeless people for open mics and enrolled in all the local Improv schools and acting classes, racking up thousands on credit credits. The first three years she survived just on pure hope that she was not crazy for leaving her wonderful family to pursue her dream of winning an Oscar. Jill-Michele's hard work and spirit has definitely paid off. She has been recently seen on SHOWTIME’s stand-up special “Hot Tamales” and was the first and only Latina Cast Member of FOX’s “MadTV”. You've also seen her on Comedy Central's "Reno 911" playing George Lopez’s girlfriend, FOX's "Til Death", E!, TBS, VH1, BET, SiTV's "Latino 101"and was the host of SiTV's "Inside Joke". Jill-Michele not only is an actress and stand-up Comedienne, she a Writer and Producer as well. She teamed up with Academy Nominee, Larry Hankin, and starred, wrote and produced a short comedic film titled "Emmett Deemus and the Porno Queen" that was highly respected in the film festival circuit. Jill-Michele, AKA “Jilly”, is currently working with Emmy award winning Executive Producer, Sandy Chanley, on her one hour Stand-up Special. Chanley also co-wrote her One-Woman-Show “Rule Breaker”, which is now being turned into a screenplay. "It's an honor for me to be working with Sandy. She's produced specials for the greats such as Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Paula Poundstone, Kathy Griffin, Bill Maher, Joan Rivers, D.L Hughley and so many more. I have to pinch myself daily to believe I'm next on her amazing roster". www.productionpartners.com Jilly does not stop there. Her mind is never at rest so she created a web series "Zombie Undergound"-Zombies marriage counseling that was sold to Comedy Central's Atom.com "I've made some great friends in this Hollyweird Industry. Carlos Alazraqui is one of them and he created a new web series called "The Club". A hilarious inside look of a comedy club. I star in it alongside Carlos, Johnny Sanchez and Debra Wilson-just to name a few from the brilliant cast." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYPa-M7QmuI Charity support is a huge part of Jilly's life. She is actively promoting awareness for Neglected Tropical Diseases http://www.globalnetwork.org/ . She's a mentor for underprivileged teen girls with Step Up Woman's Network www.suwn.org/ and of course she always happy supporting the animals www.strayrescue.org She recently started running marathons to honor her dog that died. "Run 4 Baki" charity, started by her mother. For more updated news, live shows and information, check out her website www.jillyonline.com. Career 'MADtv ' Meleán joined the cast of MADtv in 2002, as a feature performer, for the seventh season. She was the third Hispanic MADtv cast member (The first was feature player Pablo Francisco, who is Chilean and the second was Cuban-born Nelson Ascencio in 1999) and the first Latin female to join the show. However, unlike Ascencio, it was not her portrayal of famous Latin stars that got her her big break on the show. Her first skit, a parody of Britney Spears' "Not a Girl" video (showing visual sexual metaphors), quickly gained her fans and notoriety. As a result, Meleán was promoted to repertory status for the following season. While on MADtv, Britney Spears was not the only celebrity that Meleán lampooned. She also impersonated Kelly Osbourne, Jenna Bush, Asia Argento, Jennifer Lopez, and Drew Barrymore. Meleán also replaced Kathryn Fiore's character in the Kappa Kappa Kappa Sorority sisters sketch. Behind the scenes, Meleán bonded very well with the other cast members. In particular, Meleán was especially close to Debra Wilson who she said, on her first day, "she greeted me with open arms and made me feel part of the MADtv family." 'Other entertainment projects' After leaving, she toured with Luke Torres and Carlos Oscar on the Latinos Locos tour and had a role in the film Hunting of Man (2003), which won an ALMA award. After her tour ended, Meleán made numerous television appearances on shows like The Parkers and she is the host of the documentary styled show, Inside Joke on SiTV. Meleán has performed in Washington, D.C. for Congress and honorably interviewed congress members on-air for SiTV. Outside the world of comedy, Meleán served as the host of the 2006 Annual Latina conference in Ontario, California and she is active in numerous charity events. Meleán's biggest role since leaving MADtv has been a recurring role on Comedy Central's Reno 911! as Deputy Garcia's sister, Maria Garcia. In the 2009 season of the series, with Deputy Garcia no longer on the show, she now plays Gloria, mistress to Mayor Hernandez (played by George Lopez). Personal *Meleán has a black belt in TaeKwonDo. *Meleán has been featured in Latina magazine and has the 2005 May cover for Hispanic Lifestyle magazine. *Meleán was engaged to actor/model Keith Collins in 2006-2008. Meleán, Jill Michele Meleán, Jill Michele